Urinary incontinence is a widespread problem among females. It is estimated that up to 50% of women occasionally leak urine involuntarily, and that approximately 25% of women will seek medical advice at some point in order to deal with the problem. Stress incontinence, the most common type of urinary incontinence, refers to the involuntary loss of urine resulting from abdominal pressure rise, occurring during exercise, coughing, sneezing, laughing, etc. When stress incontinence occurs, it is usually the result of the abnormal descent of the urethra and bladder neck below the level of the pelvic floor. While many different factors may contribute to the development of stress incontinence, it is most prevalent among women ages 35-65 and those who have had multiple vaginal deliveries. Stress incontinence is both aggravating and unpleasant for women, and it can also be embarrassing. Many women wear sanitary pads or diapers in order to deal with incontinence, though this is not a real solution to the problem and it can be very inconvenient and unreliable. Surgical treatment may involve securing the paraurethal tissues to the periosteum of the pubic bone or the rectus facia in order to elevate the bladder neck above the pelvic floor and thereby distribute pressure equally to the bladder, the bladder neck, and the mid-urethra. Recently, a procedure known as “TVT” (“Tension Free Vaginal Tape”) was developed, in which a mesh tape is implanted underneath the mid-urethra, creating a hammock on which the urethra may kink during a rise in intra-abdominal pressure. However, surgery is only suitable for severe cases, and the majority of women experiencing incontinence do not need surgical solutions.
One modality of non-surgical treatment involves the use of devices that are inserted into the vagina, either by a medical practitioner or by the woman herself. Most devices are designed to apply pressure against the bladder neck so as to inhibit or completely block the flow of urine through the urethra. A variety of such devices are known in the art. For example, refer to U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0183711 to Moser, entitled, “Urinary Incontinence Device”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,340 to Jensen, et al., entitled, “Device for prevention of involuntary urination”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,831 to Zunker, et al., entitled, “Resilient incontinence insert and a method of making the same”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,542 to James, entitled, “Female incontinence control device”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,206 to Biswas, entitled, “Intra-vaginal device”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,640 to Kresch, entitled “Method for Treating Female Incontinence”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,899 to Martelly, et al., entitled, “Pessary”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,256 to Reimer, entitled, “Device for Arrangement in the Vagina for Prevention of Involuntary Urination with Females and an Applicator for use in Insertion of the Device”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,226 to Juma, entitled, “Female Anti-Incontinence Device”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,836 to Biswas, entitled, “Urinary Incontinence Device”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,894 to Enhorning, entitled, “Female Incontinence Device”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,986 to Biswas, entitled, “Urinary Incontinence Device”, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.
One problem with many of the above listed devices is that they completely block the urethra and thus they need to be removed or collapsed in order to allow the woman to urinate. To overcome this drawback, vaginal devices have been developed having specialized shapes that do not completely block the bladder neck but these devices tend to be large, uncomfortable, and intrusive. They also tend to cause irritation or soreness to the vagina.
Another common shortcoming is that most devices known in the art also tend to be difficult or painful to insert and/or remove. In order to correctly inhibit urine flow, the device needs to be properly positioned in the vaginal canal. As a result, a doctor may be required to properly position the device. In most cases, the device is adapted for remaining in the vagina for a prolonged period of time (due to the time and expense of requiring a trained medical professional to insert the device). However, when positioned in the vagina for an extended period of the time, the device may cause vaginal infections, necrosis, or bleeding.